Disclaimer: They're not mine
Pairing: GCR
Spoilers: None
Summary: Final part to the trilogy of 'stand-alones'. It's just pure GCR. Especially for sitarra – my only reviewer! Heh heh! PLEASE r&r!
- o -
On The Peak
- o -
"Catherine – Cath?" he began, kissing her up from her collar bone.
"When you leave him...Promise me you'll come here first."
"Since when have I ever run from him to anywhere else?" she replied with a smile.
He kissed her again, tasting the salt from her tears. "Promise me you'll come here – and finish this."
"I promise," she whispered. "I promise..."
- o -
Catherine dropped a large armful of folders onto his desk with a triumphant smile.
"Blood results back on Carson case. Tox screen from the Harris one. Paperwork filed and ordered over the past fortnight – and I am outta here," she announced, handing him each file as she spoke. Grissom grinned.
"Efficient," he commented.
"Only the best," she quipped. "See you around." And turned to go.
"When?" he asked and she stopped in the doorway.
"Whenever – the usual, I guess," she replied. He looked amused.
"Usual?"
"Yes, okay," she rolled her eyes and sighed. "This is never how I thought it'd be. I never thought that I'd be faced with choosing between the guy I married and the guy I love – the one who was actually there when my daughter was born."
"Ah – I remember that," he smiled, inspecting the palm of his hand carefully. "I think I still have a scar on this hand from your nails."
"What a shame – did I hurt you?" she answered sarcastically. He laughed.
"Point taken. Well it doesn't matter anyway – you'll pick Eddie, all the time." he told her, not out of bitterness, just fact.
"I'm sorry. It wasn't meant to be like that. They should've been the same guy."
"Nothing's perfect." he assured her with a shrug.
"Well I never thought I'd be going with this choice." she admitted sadly.
"It's how it is, Catherine – you'll never know how it's going to turn out," he said calmly. "There'll be time for us, somehow."
"How do you know that?" her voice was dubious.
"Because – because one day you'll realise that you're so much better than he deserves and you'll get out of there."
-
Catherine shut her front door behind her as she went in and set Lindsey down on the floor. The two-year old made a beeline for her chest of toys in the corner of the room and, smiling, Catherine wandered into the kitchen to fix something for Lindsey's dinner.
She stood by the fridge, stuck in a daze for a moment, thinking – as she always did in quiet moments, about him. A sudden noise from the bedroom jolted her out of her daze and she headed towards the room, curious.
"Eddie?" she called. She didn't know that her husband was back yet. "You home?"
Nudging open the door, she found herself faced with a sight she'd always half-known she'd one day see but never wanted to believe it. Eddie pushed the woman off him in shock and they both scrabbled for clothes scattered on the floor as Catherine stared in shock. The hurt rested on her face for just a moment before she turned around and left the room again without saying a word.
"Lindsey, honey, we've got to go," she murmured to the little girl and picked her up.
"Catherine – Cath, baby, listen to me," Eddie hopped out of the room, trying to pull on his jeans. Catherine ignored him and gathered up a bag full of stuff to spend the night elsewhere.
"Cath, come on."
"No, Eddie. You know, I really don't want to hear it. You've always been a real jerk and I've given you chances before but this really is the limit." Catherine muttered bitterly, collecting up some more belongings.
"Well fine, you know – screw it. Don't tell me you haven't been sleeping around with your bug man, too," he snarled in response. Her eyes shone furiously as she turned on him.
"No, Eddie. Because we have morals. You always tried to bring this on me, but I've been faithful, so don't turn this around on me again," she snapped.
"Liar. Lying whore – you were a whore then and you're a whore now, don't pretend to me." Eddie spat. Unnoticed, the other young lady slipped out of the door, dressed hurriedly and throwing a dirty look at Eddie.
"Expect the divorce papers on Monday, Eddie." she replied quietly. "And don't use language like that in front of Lindsey."
"Screw that – I should've left you before she was born. You know I was sleeping around then, too." he roared, trying to bring back that flicker of pain on her face but she was more than determined not to let it show.
"Whatever, Eddie. You might as well have done; it's made no difference." she answered, shifting Lindsey onto her right hip and walking out of the door. "Don't expect any visitation rights on her after a comment like that."
"I don't care, Cath – I really could not give a fuck," he yelled down the hall at her retreating back. "Like I want to see you fuck her up too. Make her a wreck, just like you. I don't want to watch that happen."
Catherine stopped. Covering Lindsey's ear with a hand and pressing the other ear against her chest, she turned to her husband.
"Fuck you, Eddie," she told him, in a low voice that shook. "Fuck. You."
And as she turned around and carried on walking, tears that she'd held back all this time, all these years, began to slide down her face. At least, she thought, at least he didn't have the satisfaction of seeing them.
-
There was a knock at the door again and Gil Grissom jumped to his feet, a grin spreading on his face.
"Hey, I thought I gave you a k-" he stopped short when he opened the door and saw her standing there, tears still running down her face. "Oh Jesus, Catherine. What did he do?"
"You were right," she muttered, pushing past him but not answering his question. "You were right, of course you were right. I just never listened."
"Catherine – did he hurt you? Are you hurt? Did he hurt you?" he asked repeatedly, the anxiety clearly shown on his face.
"No, no he didn't touch me." she muttered vaguely. Gil grabbed the remote control for the TV, flicked onto Nick Jr. and sat Lindsey down on the sofa.
"You wanna watch some cartoons while I talk to your Mommy, Linds?" he smiled at the little girl who beamed and obediently sat on the sofa as he led Catherine into the kitchen.
"Do you want a drink?" Gil offered, not sure what else to do.
"He was screwing someone else. In our bed." she told him.
"Oh Cath..." he drew her into a hug.
"In our own bed – can you believe it? I wonder how many times I've slept in that bed with him just a couple of hours after he'd been in there with someone else." she said bitterly into his chest.
"Catherine..."
"The worst part was when we were leaving and he shouted down the hall to me that he was glad he wouldn't see Lindsey anymore. That he didn't want to have to watch me make her into a wreck, just like me. He didn't want to see her become me. And I don't care if he's been screwing other women. I don't care if he was never there or if he beat me up a couple of times. I don't care about that. It was just – it was...It's what I'm so scared of. That Lindsey'll end up like me."
"Christ, Catherine – is that what you really think of yourself? A wreck?"
"Oh come on, Gil. Would the world's best mother be on stage every now and then dancing for other guys?" she raised her eyebrows and her voice dripped with sarcasm.
"You did it for her. You did it all for her and you've been a very good mother to her. You're not a wreck. He was wrong – he was never right about you. Never once." he assured her earnestly.
"I've been so stupid." she sighed, wiping her tears away onto his collar. She pulled back from him and looked at him. "Say it then."
"Huh?"
"Go on – say it. Tell me you told me so," she smiled slightly.
"I don't really – "
"No, go on," she cut him off. "I want to hear it. Say that you told me so." He looked into her eyes.
"I told you, Cath," he asserted. "I told you you were too good for him. I told you you were worth more than anyone could deserve. I told you there'd be a time for us."
"You always knew, didn't you?" she murmured with a laugh. "You never gave up on that."
"I couldn't give up on you. Not on you." As he looked at her, a wave of awareness swept over him and he spoke again: "It's over now, Cath. That's it. It's over."
With that, a broad grin grew on her face, covering the tear-stained cheeks and morose eyes. Catherine leant up to him and kissed him.
"I wish I'd listened to you," she whispered, drawing back. "I wish I'd listened to you then."
He kissed her again and again. "It doesn't matter. You're here now; it doesn't matter."
She nodded, smiled and slipped her slender fingers underneath his shirt.
"What time is it?" he murmured in between working her top off over her head.
"6. Lindsey'll probably be asleep."
"We can leave for work in a few hours."
"We've got time." Catherine tugged his shirt off; they left it crumpled on the kitchen floor with her own as they worked their way into his bedroom. Their bedroom.
"Is she asleep?"
Catherine glanced to the couch as they moved quietly through the living room, not letting go of each other. Lindsey was curled up in a small mound on the couch and fast asleep.
"Yeah, it's ok," she briefly tucked a nearby blanket over her daughter before following Gil into the bedroom.
They stood for a while in the semi-dark until her fingers found his belt buckle and nimbly unhooked it. His fingers less-ably fumbled with her bra strap but she only laughed slightly at the innocence she'd always expected from him and traced her fingertips over his skin until he succeeded with a grin, letting the item fall to the floor.
"I knew he was cheating," Catherine mumbled distantly, feeling Gil's mouth across her shoulder. "You know what he gave me for our last anniversary?"
"Mmm?" He hooked his thumbs under the waistband of her trousers and began to work them down.
"Chlamydia. Ha! And I told him and he turned it on me." Her hands found his and helped him along.
"Said you were cheating on him?" He nudged her gently onto the bed.
"Yeah. Came back at me with the whole 'whore' thing. Said I was the one sleeping around," She slid her legs around his before adding with a slight smile: "With you."
He chuckled at the thought.
"What a joke – who would I have got it from?" He wondered self-deprecatingly.
"Has it always been me, Gil?" she asked him, entangled in sheets and limbs.
"It's always been you." he confirmed resolutely. She smiled; she wouldn't believe that coming from the mouth of anyone else.
"Good." she replied, wrenching the modest wedding band from around her finger and throwing it blindly across the room.
Gil heard it hit the wall and land somewhere in his room. Then he closed his eyes and carried on. When he opened them again, a couple of hours later, fast asleep beside him, as if to tell him they'd found their way, she was still there.
- o -
Thanks, sitarra, in advance. I'm counting on ya! Oh crap, I must be appallingly bad at this...